and britain safe from another 9/11 or 7/7. thousands more, including many civilians, have risked their lives and hundreds have been injured fighting for the security of our nation. they've been part of an international coalition involving 48 countries with a specific u.n. mandate working at the invitation of a democratically elected government. though there have been many, many difficult times, we should be clear about what has been achieved. in 2009 my predecessor as prime minister told this house that some 3/4 of the most serious terrorist plots against britain had been links to afghanistan and pakistan. we must always be on guard but i say this figure is now significantly reduced. international forces have been bearing down on al qaeda and their former host, the taliban, in both pakistan and afghanistan. in pakistan, osama bin laden has been killed and al qaeda significantly weakened. in afghanistan british and international forces have driven al qaeda from its bases and while it's too early to tell for certain, initial evi